Caroline Valentin is co-author of the book Une France subjected, The voices of refusal (Albin Michel, 2017).
In his speech of last February 18 in Mulhouse, Emmanuel Macron said he was determined to fight against what he called "separatism" and which he described as follows: "a desire to leave the Republic, to no longer respect its rules, of a withdrawal movement which, because of beliefs and belonging, aims to leave the republican field […]. In the Republic, we cannot accept that we refuse to shake hands with a woman because she is a woman. In the Republic, we cannot accept that someone refuses to be treated or educated by someone because it is a woman. In the Republic, one cannot accept school drop-out for religious or belief reasons. In the Republic, one cannot require certificates of virginity to marry. In the Republic, one must never accept that the laws of religion can be superior to the laws of the Republic. ” Then come the various measures already taken or going to be taken to deal with this separatism that the president will finally dare to call "Islamist" because that is what it is all about.
The Islamist danger unfortunately is not limited to separatism as aimed by Emmanuel Macron.The intention is laudable and the project necessary. However, the Islamist danger is unfortunately not limited to separatism as aimed by Emmanuel Macron. Even more formidable is entrism, in the various political, media, trade union, associative institutions, in all circles of power in short, which is at the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood's strategy. This Islamist brotherhood, founded in 1928 in Egypt by the grandfather of Tariq Ramadan, has indeed an explicit project of conquering our western societies.
Today, who is in the “galaxy” of the Muslim Brotherhood in France? We should ask ourselves more about certain personalities present in the wake of Hakim El Karoui, a very close friend of Emmanuel Macron, instigator of a project of “Islam of France” embodied by AMIF (“Muslim Association for the 'Islam of France'), like the very media and very influential Tareq Oubrou, Mohamed Bajrafil, secretary of the Muslim Theological Council of France, Abdelghani Benali, Abdelhaq Nabaoui, Farid Abdelkrim or Azzedine Gaci.
All those who have followed the AMIF project since its origins in 2016, worry about the power that the State could give to this association. Experts in the matter - including the former Muslim Brother, now a very active republican activist Mohamed Louizi - even wrote in October 2019 to Emmanuel Macron to warn him of the dangers of building Islam in France on AMIF. The letter they sent - accompanied by a very complete dossier, notably relating to the contacts of certain AMIF personalities with the Muslim Brotherhood - remained unanswered.
If President Macron did not mention AMIF during his Mulhouse press conference, he repeated in his speech some of the objectives of the latter. Thus, on the evening of February 18, we knew that the imams would now be trained in France and that the financing of the mosques had to become "transparent". These two aspects are at the heart of the AMIF project. The following day, the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner came to confirm at the microphone of France Inter that Hakim el Karoui, which we know inseparable from his AMIF, would be involved in the global strategy described by Emmanuel Macron, possibly in collaboration with the CFCM.
It is absurd to want to fight against separatism by funding this fight thanks to the development of essential markers of said separatism.Who has listened attentively to the President's words this famous February 18 will have noted the announcement of a new law to implement some of the measures presented. They indeed require a budget and an organization which the CFCM (French Council for Muslim Worship), the only actor mentioned by Emmanuel Macron in Mulhouse, does not have today. The announced law should make it possible to resolve this problem of means through AMIF, the project of which provides for the vote of new taxes (on halal, on pilgrimages to Mecca, on Muslim funeral services) and other advantages to finance the training of imams and the construction of mosques. Note, moreover, the contradiction inherent in this project: fighting separatism by funding this fight thanks to the development of essential markers of said separatism. The only thing missing from this formidable range is a special VAT on Islamic clothing…
To tell the truth, all this is not very surprising. The state wishing to get involved in the organization of Islam can only do so with organized people; the most organized are the most radical. At the top of the French brotherhood galaxy, we find the UOIF, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, French showcase of the Muslim Brotherhood in France and renamed since 2017 "Muslims of France" (this new name translating could not be more clearly desire of the Muslim Brotherhood to unify and reign over a Muslim communitarianism that President Macron dubbed between the lines in his Mulhouse speech). The UOIF will gain even more influence and recognition thanks to the departmental structures of the Muslim religion which it and other organizations have finally obtained from this government after years of repeated requests in this direction. The UOIF has also been training its own imams in France for almost 30 years and could, if not lend its organization, at least inspire that of AMIF in this area, through all the good friends they have placed there.
Does the presidential power want to get the Muslim Brotherhood to have the French Muslims vote as one man in its favor?Emmanuel Macron's speech in Mulhouse seems to be to fight separatism through communitarianism. Does the presidential power want to obtain from the Brothers what Jean-Christophe Lagarde obtained from the Barbarians in Bobigny: that they have the French Muslims vote as one man?